RIOC repeatedly skirts the Open Meetings Law—merging required committees, announcing meetings at the last minute, and approving decisions already made behind closed doors.
Excellent questions, George. Good governance rarely makes headlines—but where real debate happens, public trust follows. RIOC’s version? Pure theater.
We’ve asked, prodded, waited—and RIOC doesn’t just refuse to answer, they don’t even acknowledge receipt. That’s not standard. We’re not aware of any other government entity that treats public inquiry with this level of indifference. Even when agencies dodge, they at least go through the motions—“Thanks for your message,” etc.
One bright spot: the Governance Committee. Its meetings actually model real oversight—debate, dissent, substance. That said, it’s not without its own issues, which we’ll dig into in a future piece. But the conversation there? It shows what lawful, transparent governance should look like.
Quiet outrage is what keeps this failed system running smoothly. We need loud, lunatic outrage. Residents need to take back their government or, at least, THEY NEED TO BE ANNOYING. It's hard to be annoying in public. It's hard to ask the same question over and over until you are escorted out of the meeting. Your children will be mortified. What if we all did this together, as an annoying group? What if we were so annoying, at every meeting, that they escorted all of us out. And a fair press, took pictures and publicized the event, showing the citizens out in the cold and the governing body inside all alone.
what are analogous local public bodies that have better compliance with the open meetings law and just better norms?
1) not to excuse RIOC's behavior, but is this just a more systemic problem with overall lack of enforcement (and/or norms across city/state)?
2) are there any good practices/behaviors we can borrow from more successfully operating meeting series?
Excellent questions, George. Good governance rarely makes headlines—but where real debate happens, public trust follows. RIOC’s version? Pure theater.
We’ve asked, prodded, waited—and RIOC doesn’t just refuse to answer, they don’t even acknowledge receipt. That’s not standard. We’re not aware of any other government entity that treats public inquiry with this level of indifference. Even when agencies dodge, they at least go through the motions—“Thanks for your message,” etc.
One bright spot: the Governance Committee. Its meetings actually model real oversight—debate, dissent, substance. That said, it’s not without its own issues, which we’ll dig into in a future piece. But the conversation there? It shows what lawful, transparent governance should look like.
Quiet outrage is what keeps this failed system running smoothly. We need loud, lunatic outrage. Residents need to take back their government or, at least, THEY NEED TO BE ANNOYING. It's hard to be annoying in public. It's hard to ask the same question over and over until you are escorted out of the meeting. Your children will be mortified. What if we all did this together, as an annoying group? What if we were so annoying, at every meeting, that they escorted all of us out. And a fair press, took pictures and publicized the event, showing the citizens out in the cold and the governing body inside all alone.